Rewind machine



July 25, 1967 L. RocKsTRoM ETAL 3,332,636

` RE IIIIIIIII NE Filed Dec. 2l, 1965 4 Sheetsfsheet 1 Arlon/vers July25, 1967 L. ROCKSTROM ETAL REWIND MACHINE 4 Sheets-Sheet Filed Dec. 2l.1965 INVENTOR.

July 25, 1957 l.. ROCKSTROM ETAL 3,332,636

REWIND MACHINE 4 Sheets-Sheet Filed Dec. 2l, 1965 INVENTORS 6D/MRDQocksmn QOSEQT E. Busi-1 July 25, 1967 RocKsTRoM ETAL 3,332,636

REWIND MACHINE 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Dec. 2l, 1965 United States PatentO 3,332,636 REWIND MACHINE Leonard Rockstrom, Madison, and Robert E.Bush, Morris Plains, NJ., assignors to Cameron Machine Conipany, Dover,NJ., a corporation of New York Filed Dec. 21, 1965., Ser. No. 515,336 12Claims. (Cl. 242-65) This invention relates to rewind machines and moreparticularly to novel means for controlling the quality of rewind rolls.

Rewind machines constructed in accordance with the Concept of thisinvention are, among other possible uses, particularly useful for highspeed, large capacity production where exceptionally fine roll qualityis a very important consideration, such as printing paper, finepackaging paper or other special purpose papers, for example.

In one form the present invention contemplates the provision of a newand improved rewind machine comprising a battery of individual,surface-center driven, shaftless rewind stations each having anindependently controlled rate of speed, torque or pull, and nip pressurefor each individual rewind roll. The rewind machine is arranged toreceive a relatively wide supply or mill roll of paper, plastic lilms,foils, thin metals, or other material to be slitted, and slitting sameinto a plurality of subwebs, and thence, passing the subwebs partiallyaround a main pull or contact drum, and then, alternately passing theweb to front and back rewind rolls. A pair of rewind arms are providedto support each rewind roll, and individual motive means, such as ahydraulic motor is employed to drive each individual rewind roll. Anindividual carriage, piston and cylinder assembly is provided for eachrewind roll, and accordingly, the nip pressure between the rewind rolland the contact drum is controlled individually for each particularrewind roll. Means such as potentiometers are mounted on the carriageswhich are operatively responsive to the position of the carriages tocontrol the speed of the hydraulic motors, respectively. Also, means,such as a cam surface, is provided for each carriage to regulate the uidpressure to its corresponding hydraulic motor, thereby to control thetorque as the rewind roll builds-up in order to maintain a suitable drawor web pull pattern throughout the cycle. In operation the outsidesurface of the rewind rolls remain in engagement with the contact drumthroughout the rewinding cycle, and the center of the rewind roll startsrelatively close to the contact drum and during the rewinding process it:moves horizontally outwardly therefrom in a Vcarefully controlledmanner by means of the carriage, piston and cylinder assembly. A frontplatform and a rear platform are provided, each of which carries aplurality of carriages and each pivots about its respective platformpivot point. The pivotal movement is outward so that the center of therewind roll moves away from the center of the machine. That is,according to the invention, the individual rewind rolls movehorizontally outwardly, individually, and thence `collectively pivot ontheir platforms, from which they are discharged or released ontosuitable receivers, respectively.

A feature of our invention resides in the provision of a new andimproved rewind machine with which large diameter and heavy rewind rollsmay be rewound and which operates at high speed compared to prior artdevices.

Another feature of this invention is the provision of anew and improvedmachine for rewinding webs of sheet material which overcomes strain anddensity control problems caused by extreme conditions of elasticity,slip, moisture content and caliper variation in the web of materialbeing rewound. A further feature of the inven- 3,332,636 Patented July2.5, 1357 ICC tion resides in the provision of a rewind machine whichdoes not require the use of long rewind shafts, center supports orfriction core driving means.

Still another feature of our invention is the provision of means forseparately controlling the surface nip pressure between the main rewinddrum and each rewinding roll which is not affected by the weight of therewind roll. Also, means are provided for individually controlling thespeed and torque of the rewind roll driving means for maintainingsubstantially constant web speed and draw or pull.

A further feature of the invention resides in a rewind machine whichprovides a rapid and easy means for unloading completed rewind rolls oflarge diameter. Yet another feature of our invention resides in theprovision of a new and improved rewind machine which is of ruggedconstruction, which is durable in use, and which is highly .efficient inoperation.

Other objects, advantages and features reside in the detailedconstruction and operation, as more fully hereinafter described andclaimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming partthereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a rewind machine constructed inaccordance with the concepts of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view showing front and rear portions of therewind machine;

FIG. 3 is a side elevation, partially in section, of the rewind machineof FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged perspective View showing details of the platformswhich carry the carriages, one being provided for each pair of rewindarms; and

FIG. 5 is an enlarged perspective view showing details of the cam andpotentiometer control means for controlling the rewinding operation.

In the illustrated embodiment of the invention, the rewind machinecomprises a front portion designated generally at 10 and a rear portiondesignated generally as 12, FIGS. 1, 2 and 3. As best seen in FIG. 3,there is a relatively wide supply or mill roll 14 of paper, plastic lm,foil, thin metal or other material to be slitted. A web 16 is fed fromthe supply roll 14 over rolls 18 to a cutting roll 20 where slitters orcutters 22 cut the web into strips or subwebs of the desired rewindwidth as the web material passes thereby. The web then passes over aroll 24 to the main pull or contact drum 26, and then alternate webspass to the front rewind rolls 28 and 30 and to the rear rewind rolls 32and 34. As best seen in FIG. 2, the rewind rolls 28, 30, 32 and 34 aredisposed in staggered relation one with respect to the other.

It will be appreciated that the front portion 10 and the rear portion 12of the rewind machine are substantially identical and operate insubstantially the same manner, therefore, only the front portion will bedescribed in detail. Referring to FIG. 1, rewind roll 28 is mountedtowards the top end of rewind arms 36 and 38 and rewind roll 30 ismounted towards the top end of rewind arms 40 and 42. Also, hydraulicmotors 44 and 46 are mounted towards the top end of one of each pair ofrewind arms 36, 3S or 40, 42 (FIG. 2), respectively. That is, anindividual hydraulic motor is provided for each rewind roll, individualcontrols for the hydraulic motors being described more fullyhereinafter.

The rewind arms 36 and 38 are carried on a carriage 4S as by means of atransversely disposed track Stil That is, the rewind arms 36 and 38 aretransversely adjustable depending upon the width of the rewind roll tobe rewound. Rewind arms 40 and 42 are mounted on carriage 52 in likemanner. As best seen in FIG. l, carriages 48 and 52 are eachindependently mounted on platform 54 by means of bedways 56, 58, 60, 62provided for the purpose. The coefcient of friction of each carriage onits respective 'bedways is as low as possible for purposes of providingmore accurate control of the nip force between the rewind roll and themain drum.

Asbest seen in FIG. 4, carriage 48 is provided with a pair of brackets64, 68 to which piston rods 7i), 72 are pivotally connected,respectively, said rods being actuated by their respective pneumaticcylinders and piston assemblies 74, 76 which are mounted on the platform54.

As best seen in FIG. 3, during the buildup of the rewind roll 28, itmoves outwardly in a horizontal plane indicated at 78. That is, thecenter line of the main drum 26, center line of the rewind rolls 28 and32 and the tangent or contact points 89 and 82 between the rewind rollsand the main drum, respectively, are all in a horizontal plane. In thismanner the weight of the rewind roll during buildup is negated and thenip or contact force between the rewind roll and the main drum at thepoint 80 can be carefully controlled by controlling the horizontalmovement of each individual carriage moves horizontally on low frictionbedways in a second horizontal plane motivated by the action of thepneumatic cylinder and piston assemblies '74, 76 (FIG. 4), wherebycontrol of said pneumatic cylinder and piston assemblies controls thenip force between the rewind rolls and the main drum. Further, it isnoted that each individual rewind roll is provided with its own rewindarms, carriage, and cylinder and piston assembly so that the nip forcefor each rewind roll is individually controlled.

Referring next to FIG. 5, there is shown a potentiometer 84 mounted onthe platform 54 and operatively connected to the carriage 48 to send anelectrical impulse through connector means 86 to controller 83 (FIG. 2),as will be described more fully hereinafter. As best seen in FIG. 5, acam surface 90 is mounted on platform 54, adjusting means 92 beingprovided for the accurate positioning thereof. ,A cam follower 94 ismounted on carriage 4S to follow the cam surface and operate a reliefvalve 96 to transmit a signal through connector means 98 to controller88 (FIG. 2). Thus, it is seen that horizontal in and out movement of thecarriage 48 (FIG. 5) causes the transmission of predetermined signals tothe controller 83 (FIG. 2) through connectors 86 and 98. As isschematically shown in FIG. 2, hydraulic fluid under pressure isreceived from a source 100 into the controller 88 wherein it ismodulated to deliver to the hydraulic motor 44 through connector 102.The control 88 serves to control the volume of fluid transmitted to thehydraulic motor 44 in response to the signal received from thepotentiometer 84 (FIG. 5) through connector 86 (FIG. 2). The volume ofuid, in turn, controls the speed at which the rewind roll 28 is drivenso that the speed is decreased as the rewind roll builds up in diameterin order to maintain a substantially constant web speed. The controller88 (FIG. 2) also serves to control the pressure of the hydraulic fluidentering the hydraulic motor 44 responsive to the movement of the camfollower '94 (FIG. 5). This, in turn, controls the winding torque of therewind roll 28. During the buildup of the rewind roll the torque isgradually increased in order to keep a substantially constant pull ordraw on the web throughout the rewinding cycle. Thus it is seen eachrewind roll 28, 30, 32 and 34 is provided with its own hydraulic motordrive and each motor is controlled by its own potentiometer and camassembly. Accordingly, rewind rolls of various widths, diameters ordifferent physical characteristics can be handled, simultaneously.

Referring to FIG. l, it is seen that carriages 48 and S2 are bothslidably mounted on platform 54. It is noted that a rear platform isalso provided which is similar to the front platform. After the rewindrolls 28 and 30 have been completed and moved to their outermostposition on the platform 54, the entire platform including .thecarriages is pivqted about its pivot point 104, the

rewind roll 28 moving from its position shown by the solid lines to itsposition shown by the broken lines in FIG. 3. The pivot point 104 is ashaft which extends the entire width of the machine as seen in FIG. 4,the ends being mounted in the main frame of the machine 196. For eachplatform 54, there are four downwardly depending brackets 108, to eachof which is pivotally connected a piston rod which, in turn7 isconnected to a hydraulic cylinder and piston assembly 112 (FIG. 3), thecylinder being pivotally mounted on the main frame 106 as Vat 114.

As best seen in FIG. 3, after the rewind rolls have ybeen completed, thehydraulic cylinder and piston assembly 112 pivots the platform 54 sothat the rewind rolls move outwardly and are positioned on atransversely moving conveyor belt 116 which carries the rolls away. Itwill be appreciated that all the rolls may be released simultaneouslyonto the conveyor belt. The conveyor is located at iloor level and a pit118 (FIG. 3) is provided to receive the overhanging components duringpivotal movement. Thereafter, the platform is returned to its horizontalposition and the carriages are returned to their innermost positionsready to start the next cycle of operation. As pointed out hereinbefore,rewind rolls are built up and discharged onto a transverse conveyor inthe rear portion 12 of the machine the sa-me as in the above describedfront portion 10.

Thus, it is seen that applicants have indeed provided a new and improvedrewind machine which effectively meets the objects specifiedhereinbefore.

In view of the aforegoing description, taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, it is believed that a clear understanding of theconstruction, operation and advantages of the device will be quiteapparent to those skilled in the art. A more detailed description isaccordingly deemed unnecessary.

It is to be understood, however, that even though we have herein shownand described a preferred embodiment of our invention, the same issusceptible to certain changes fully comprehended by the spirit of theinvention as herein described and the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention, what we claim 1. In a rewindmachine, the combination of a front group and a rear group, each groupcomprising a plurality of pairs of rewind arms, and each pair arrangedto support a rewind roll at their outer ends, a main contact drumdisposed in operational engagement with the rewind rolls, a frontplatform for said front group and -a rear platform for said rear group,a plurality of carriages carried by each of said platforms one beingprovided for each pair of rewind arms, individual means mounting each ofsaid carriages for horizontal movement away from said main contact drumresponsive to the buildup of its corresponding rewind roll, and meansfor pivoting each of said platforms with their corresponding carriagesaway from said main Contact drum when the respective group of rewindrolls has been completed.

2. A rewind machine according to claim 1 wherein the rewind roll issupported at the outer ends of said rewind arms on a rewind roll coreand is formed from a strip of sheet material wound about said core, andthe centerline of said contact drum and the centerlines of said rewindrolls are disposed in the same horizontal plane. n

3. A rewind machine according to claim 2 wherein said means mountingeach of said carriages comprises low friction bed ways positioned in ahorizontal plane different from the first mentioned plane, and saidcarriagesV are mounted on said bed ways respectively for horizontalmovement away from said main contact drum responsive said carriageswhereby a controlled density is obtained throughout the thickness of therewind rolls respectively.

5. A rewind machine according to claim 2 wherein one of said arms ofeach pair carries at its outer end means for center driving engagementwith its respect-ive core, and wherein said main contact drum isdisposed in surface to surface driving engagement with the rewind rolls,and means are provided for applying a predetermined pressure on saidcarriages whereby a controlled density is obtained throughout thethickness of the rewind rolls, respectively.

6. A rewind machine according to claim 2 characterized by transverselyextending conveyor means disposed adjacent said pivoted platforms,respectively, for receiving said so pivoted completed rewind rolls.

7. A rewind machine according to claim 4 wherein said main contact drumis disposed in surface to surface driving engagement with the rewindrolls, said means for ap plying a predetermined nip pressure on saidcarriages comprises tluid cylinder and piston means, and said means forpivoting each of said platforms comprises uid cylinder and piston means,and transversely extending conveyors are disposed adjacent said pivotedplatforms, respectively, for receiving said so pivoted completed rewindrolls.

8. A rewind machine according to claim 5 further comprising means forcontrolling the speed of said means for center driving engagement withsaid core corresponding to the build-up of said rewind rolls,respectively.

9. A rewind machine according to claim 5 further comprising means forcontrolling the torque output of said means for center drivingengagement with said core corresponding to the build-up of said rewindrolls to maintain a predetermined web pull, respectively.

10. A rewind machine according to claim 2 wherein one of said arms ofeach pair carries at its outer end a hydraulic motor for center drivingengagement with its respective core, and wherein said main contact drumis disposed in surface to surface driving engagement with the rewindrolls, potentiometer means are associated with said carriages forcontrolling the volumetric ow of hydraulic uid to said hydraulic motorscorresponding to the relative position of said carriages respectivelywith respect to said main contact drum, and means are provided forapplying a predetermined pressure on said carriages whereby a controlleddensity is obtained throughout the thickness of the rewind rolls,respectively.

11. A rewind machine according to claim 2 wherein one of said arms ofeach pair carries at its outer end a hydraulic motor for center drivingengagement with its respective core, and wherein said main contact drumis disposed in surface to surface driving engagement with the -rewindrolls, cam means associated with said carriages for controlling thepressure of the hydraulic fluid being supplied to said hydraulic motorscorresponding to the relative position of said carriages respectivelywith respect to said main contact drum to maintain a preselected webpull pattern throughout the cycle, and means are provided for applying apredetermined pressure on said carriages whereby a controlled density isobtained through-A out the thickness ofthe rewind rolls, respectively.

12. A rewind machine according to claim 2 further comprisingtransversely extending conveyor means disposed adjacent said platforms,respectively, for receiving said so pivoted completed rewind rolls, andwherein said main contact drum is disposed in surface to surface drivingengagement with the rewind rolls, means for applying a predeterminedpressure on said carriages comprising fluid cylinder piston means, andsaid means for pivoting each of said platforms comprises uid cylinderand piston means, and wherein one of said arms of each pair carries atits outer end a hydraulic motor for center driving engagement with itsrespective core, and wherein potentiometer means are associated withsaid carriages for controlling the volumetric flow of hydraulic iluid tosaid hydraulic motors corresponding to the relative position of saidcarriages respectively with respect to said main contact drum, andwherein cam means associated with said carriages for controlling thepressure of the hydraulic fluid being supplied to said hydraulic motorscorresponding to the relative position of said carriages respectfullywith respect to said main contact drum to maintain a predetermined webpull pattern throughout the cycle, whereby a controlled density isobtained throughout the thickness of the rewind rolls, respectively.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,985,802 12/1934 Sheppard 242-65X 2,984,427 5 1961 Rockstrom 242-65 3,157,371 l 1/1964 Billingsley242-56.2 3,291,412 12/ 1966 Rockstrom et `al 242-65 FRANK J. COHEN,Primary Examiner.

W. S. BURDEN, Assistant Examiner.

1. IN A REWIND MACHINE, THE COMBINATION OF A FRONT GROUP AND A REARGROUP, EACH GROUP COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF PAIRS OF REWIND ARMS, ANDEACH PAIR ARRANGED TO SUPPORT A REWIND ROLL AT THEIR OUTER ENDS, A MAINCONTACT DRUM DISPOSED IN OPERATIONAL ENGAGEMENT WITH THE REWIND ROLLS, AFRONT PLATFORM FOR SAID FRONT GROUP AND A REAR PLATFORM FOR SAID REARGROUP, A PLURALITY OF CARRIAGES CARRIED BY EACH OF SAID PLATFORMS ONEBEING PROVIDED FOR EACH PAIR OF REWIND ARMS, INDIVIDUAL MEANS MOUNTINGEACH OF SAID CARRIAGES FOR HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT AWAY FROM SAID MAINCONTACT DRUM RESPONSIVE TO THE BUILDUP OF ITS CORRESPONDING REWIND ROLL,AND MEANS FOR PIVOTING EACH OF SAID PLATFORMS WITH THEIR CORRESPONDINGCARRIAGES AWAY FROM SAID MAIN CONTACT DRUM WHEN THE RESPECTIVE GROUP OFREWIND ROLLS HAS BEEN COMPLETED.